A STUDY ON THE CONTENTS PRESENT IN ASTRONOMY DISCIPLINES IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF PHYSICISTS AT FEDERAL AND STATE UNIVERSITIES IN BRAZIL

ABSTRACT:

The research developed aimed to: analyze the contents covered by the astronomy disciplines in public universities in the country, sometimes separated by federal or state sphere, sometimes comparatively, in order to understand which are the most discussed topics within these disciplines; to present arguments about how the way in which the contents of a syllabus are presented can harm the teaching work, if these are not clear and/or objective; to outline strategies for the writing of syllabuses that contribute to the teaching planning work; to structure a possible list of contents for an Introduction to Astronomy course. Qualitative in nature, the research considered Content Analysis as an inspiring technique for the analysis carried out. Based on the results obtained, we were able to identify the most common contents within astronomy disciplines, verify the presence of topics that lack clarity and/or objectivity and infer some recommendations for writing a list of contents for an introductory course of Astronomy.

Keywords:
Astronomy Education; Astronomy contents; Curriculum; Content Analysis